


The earth is moving

by Want_to_read234



Series: My First Whumptober (2020) [23]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Earthquakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Want_to_read234/pseuds/Want_to_read234
Summary: Peter gets trapped in an Elevator in Stark tower during an earthquake. With the power out and no suit, how will he get out?Day 27: Earthquake / Power Outage
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: My First Whumptober (2020) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948717
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	The earth is moving

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,
> 
> so apologies if the ending of this seems rushed. I had written this to be around 3,000 words and it had an ending that included a lot of other character, and so I saved it. When I turned my laptop on the next day, the file had corrupted and i couldn't retrieve it from my OneDrive either... So instead I had to take it back to a version that only had the first ~1,000 words and I couldn't face writing it all again so it ended up being shorter and I kept it to just the two characters instead.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy the version that is left!

Peters spidey sense had been buzzing quietly since he got into Happy’s car after school. Not a warning that said he was in immediate danger, but a sign that something was coming. Almost like anxiety buzzing under his skin.

Shrugging it off, he watched as the car pulled up in front of the tower. Grabbing his bag, he waved bye to Happy before wandering in through the lobby straight to the private elevator at the back. It was the only elevator that went to Mr Starks private lab. Apparently only 5 people had access to it. Mr Stark, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and now Peter.

It made arriving for his lab days much easier. The first time he had been invited to the Tower, he went into one of the public elevators and spent the entire journey being stared at by SI employees. He had stuck out like a sore thumb. Dressed in his jeans and his midtown tech hoodie. He had been painfully aware of the staff standing around him in immaculate suits.

This way, he could just sneak right by reception and head straight to the lab without having to interact with anyone.

As the elevator started its journey, his spidey sense screamed at him.

Following his instincts, he gripped the handrail as the entire building shook around him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he could feel the metal rail warping under his grip. The entire building was moving. His mind tried to tell him the building was collapsing like with the vulture, but he knew logically that wasn’t it. Mr Stark had built the Tower to be more structurally sound than that. He’d seen the plans himself.

His mind helpfully supplied the fact it was likely an earthquake. His breath hitched at the thought of being trapped in the elevator during one. His feet slipped from under him. Knees hitting the floor hard.

The sounds of screaming filtered in from the surrounding floors.

Breathing deeply, Peter just focused on not breaking right through the rail with his grip. His stomach lurched to his throat when the elevator started to drop. A tear slipped from his eye as he flashed back to the Washington monument. He didn’t have his webshooters on him, and there wasn’t anyone to save him.

The elevator came to a sudden stop, causing his knees to clatter on the metal floor, followed by an ominous thump above him. His backpack clattered to the ground beside him, as the world was still once again. He focused on taking a couple of calming breaths before easing his eyes open.

It was dark. None of the lights were on. That couldn’t be a good sign.

He could still hear the sounds of distress from other parts of the building. As well as the faint hum of electricity, so why weren’t the lights on? Had the fall broken the elevator?

Prying his hands off the ruined metal handrail, he shifted to reach his phone. The elevator cables groaned at the small movement within, causing him to freeze.

“FRIDAY?” he hesitated, hoping for a response. “You there FRIDAY?”

With no response he wouldn’t be able to contact anyone outside this elevator without his phone. Mr Stark knew he was due to be coming over, but with the earthquake, he could have been dragged away to help with casualties. He should try and get in contact to at least make sure they knew where he was.

Eyeing his phone, he slowly slid his hand across the floor to bring it closer. Unlocking it, he cursed under his breath when it flashed up with no signal.

Being cautious of any movement, he shifted to lean back against the wall.

Sighing, Peter loaded the Karen interface Mr Stark had installed. If he could get in touch with Karen, she would be able to pass a message onto FRIDAY for Mr Stark. The cell towers were probably just overwhelmed after such an event. Or knocked down. He wondered how many people across the city were in the same position as him, but without an AI to help him. Shaking his head, he tried to ignore those thoughts. He had to focus on getting himself out first.

“Karen, are you online?”

“Yes Peter. What can I do for you?”

“Can you get in touch with FRIDAY and ask her where Mr Stark is? And what happened to the power?” There was a delay as his AI processed the request.

“Mr Stark is currently busy, dealing with the fallout from the recent earthquake. He has requested not be disturbed unless it is an emergency. Due to the power outages covering the majority of New York city, Mr Stark has set it up that in these situations, the arc reactor that powers the tower will divert power to local hospitals and public buildings. Due to this the tower is running on emergency power, with only the public areas operational.”

Peter nodded. That made sense. But what about him? He was currently stuck and didn’t think the elevator would be stable enough to allow him to try and get himself out.

“Uh, ok thanks Karen. Is there any chance you can scan the elevator to see if its safe for me to move?”

After a pause, Karens response caused a lump to form in his throat. “I wouldn’t advise moving Peter. The elevator is currently wedged in the shaft, any movements will likely result in a fatal drop.”

“O-okay then. No moving. Got it.”

He could feel his hands shaking as he glanced around the dark room. Running a hand through his hair, he fought to make sure his grip on his phone didn’t result in breaking it. When he heard the glass screen cracking, he dropped the phone onto his lap.

Sucking in a shaky breath, he focused on keeping himself calm.

Without permission, his thoughts kept circling back to DC and to the warehouse at homecoming. All it would take would be one wrong move and he could be plummeting down to his death. Or whatever had landed on top of the elevator could crack through and crush him where he sat.

Tears were pricking his eyes, as his breathing increased. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, his hands gripped clumps of his hair. Grounding him.

“Karen, I need you to contact Mr Stark. Tell him I need him,” he asked, ignoring the tremor in his voice.

A tense pause followed as Karen followed what he had asked.

Peter couldn’t help wondering what Mr Stark was doing. Would Peters need for his mentor to come help him be dragging the man away from people who really needed him? Had he even noticed that he was missing? Had anyone been hurt? Would his mentor even pick up?

The click of the call connecting caught Peters attention.

“Peter?” his mentors voice echoed from his phone into the elevator.

“H-hey Mr Stark,” he hesitated, “em, are you busy just now?”

He could hear voices in the background, what sounded like heavy items being moved back and forth. “Never too busy for you kid, what’s up?”

“I, erm, I could use a hand,” he wiped at the tears running down his cheeks. “I’m stuck Mr Stark.”

“Hold up, where are you stuck? I thought you where with Happy? FRIDAY told me Happy was outside in the car during the earthquake, he’s helping manage some of the evacuations,” his mentors voice was raising in panic.

“No, I’d just entered the elevator when it happened. I’m in the private one, so there isn’t any power…” he heard his mentor suck in a breath over the line, “And erm, even if there was power, Karen recons that any movement in here could result in a… result in a lethal drop,” he whispered the last part.

The soft sound of his mentor cursing reached Peter through his panic, before Mr Stark started speaking again with more confidence. “OK Pete, just listen to me. I’m on my way over now. Just sit tight and stay on the line ok? I’m 3 minutes out.”

Peter nodded in response, before realising the man couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, that sounds good Mr Stark. But how are you going to get me out? I think something is blocking the hatch on top and even if its not, how can it be moved without sending me dropping to the ground?”

“You trust me Pete?”

“Of course,” he replied with no hesitation. Peter did trust him. If he wasn’t sure of anything else, he knew that he trusted his mentor.

“Then trust me when I say I’ll get you out of this. I’m so sorry kid, if I had known you were there, I would have already had you out.”

Closing his eyes, Peter focused on breathing. If his mentor was coming, then he would be out of here soon. His eyes snapped open when he heard movement above him. There was a metallic scraping sound coming somewhere further up the elevator shaft.

“Mr Stark, somethings moving!” he whispered frantically.

“Don’t worry that’s me kid. I just had to force open one of the doors. I’m coming down now, so just hold tight. When I say, I’m going to need you to jump. I’ll catch you, but I need you to jump up to me. Can you do that?”

Fighting the instinctual urge to whimper and tell him no, Peter took a deep breath and spoke more confidently than he felt, “Yeah, I’ll jump.”

Peter could hear the Iron Man repulsors getting closer.

“I’m looking right at the elevator now kid, according to FRIDAY I’m hovering right above you. I’m going to move the chunk of debris that’s blocking the hatch. When I do that, its going to break the structural integrity so I’m going to need you to jump up and through the hatch. Just jump hands first to burst through, okay? And as high as you can.”

“Ok,” he whimpered.

Peter could hear the groaning of the metal above him, even before Mr Stark had moved anything.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, he shuffled under the latch. Getting in position to jump straight up. Wiping quickly at the tears on his cheeks, he braced himself.

“Okay, you’re going to jump on 3, got it?”

“Y-yeah,” he breathed.

“I’ll catch you. I won’t let you fall kid. OK, ready. 1…2…3..” Peter could feel like the elevator starting to shift beneath him, as he pushed off bursting through the latch. There were a couple of terrifying seconds where he was freefalling in the air. He could hear the elevator falling below him, and he felt the fear as he had nothing to ground him before he was pulled into his mentors waiting arms.

Burying his face in his mentors armoured neck, he could feel the air flying by as they moved up into Mr Starks private floor. The minute his feet hit the ground, he shuffled over to the wall and slid to the ground, breathing deeply.

Mr Starks suit melted back into his nanocasing as he approached to crouch before him.

“You’re safe kid, I’ve got you,” the heavy weight of his mentors hands resting on his shoulders, helped to keep him grounded. “Your aunt is fine, I’ve already checked. Happy is on his way to go get her and she will be here in no time.”

Nodding his head, Peter once again wiped at his cheeks. Trying to stop the constant stream of tears. His mentor must have seen some of the residing fear in his face, as he pulled him forward into a hug.

Burying his head in his mentors neck, he let out a sob. “I was so s-scared Mr Stark.”

Mr Starks hand made its way into his hair, just like his aunt did when he had nightmares. “You’re safe now.”

Letting out a wobbly breath, he pulled back to smile at his mentor, “I know.”


End file.
